Among the hundreds of Russian artists featured in the Russian Museum is Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878 – 1939). He was a contemporary of Ilya Repin yet they had very different styles. While Repin focused on realism, Petrov-Vodkin’s style was unorthodox and avant-garde. Evidence is his version of the Russian Orthodox icon Our Lady of Kazan, the Holy Protectress of Russia. The title of Petrov-Vodkin’s 1915 oil on canvas is “The Mother of God of Tenderness Towards Evil Hearts.”